Bellator jumping into pay-per-view territory

Daniel Straus (red gloves) is declared the winner against Pat Curran (blue gloves) during their Bellator featherweight fight in Long Beach, Calif., on Nov. 2, 2013. Bellator is putting on its first pay-per-view on May 17. (Jayne Kamin/Oncea-USA TODAY Sports/Files)

On May 17, Bellator is jumping into UFC territory with its first-ever pay-per-view night at Bellator 120 from the Landers Center in Memphis, Tenn.

No other MMA organization can pull in the kind of PPV numbers, on a consistent basis, like UFC, but Bellator is hoping by cherry-picking the cream of its crop, it can make that translate into success.

Right now, all Bellator events are broadcast on terrestrial cable through Spike TV but the jump to pay-per-view could provide the cold, hard cash that thrills TV execs.

"I think there is a point that comes in any promotion where you want to play with the big boys," Spike TV president Kevin Kay told mmafighting. com. "PPV is the big boys and you want to put on premium fights. It's nice to give away stuff for free, but there's an economic model, and PPV is a real opportunity to make some money."